310 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to a claim that the arctic ice cap thinned by 30 per cent between 1976 and 1989; whether this rate of melting is constant; if so, if his attention has further been drawn to the claim that the ice cap will disappear in the year 2019 AD; and if he will make a statement on this matter with particular reference to the likely effects of the ice melting.

A number of reports have been published — generally in the context of climate change — on changes in the Arctic ice cap, and the matter has also been addressed as part of the work of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The melting of the ice cap would have implications for biodiversity in the Artic region itself and in more southerly latitudes. It would also reinforce the rise in sea level which would be expected from the thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of the temperate glaciers arising from climate change.

The possible effects of climate change generally are being addressed at EC and wider international level and Ireland is fully participating in the development of appropriate response measures. A series of studies on the effects of climate change in Ireland itself was published by my Department in December 1991; copies are available in the Oireachtas Library. The conclusions of the studies will be taken into account by interested Departments.